Favorites fight back in the West. March 3 playoffs
After the opening games went to the outsiders, today saw the expected order resume. SKA tied its series with Dinamo Minsk thanks to a 5-2 win (and 58 penalty minutes for the Belarusians) while Lokomotiv defeated Vityaz 6-2. Both series are deadlocked at 1-1.
Ill-disciplined Dinamo falls to SKA
SKA St. Petersburg 5 Dinamo Minsk 2 (3-0, 0-1, 2-1)
(Series tied at 1-1)
Of all the surprises on the opening day of playoff action, Dinamo’s win at SKA was perhaps the biggest shock. The Belarusians were the last team to book their playoff spot, while SKA won the Continental Cup at a canter. Yet Craig Woodcroft’s men rose to the challenge, staying in the game until the third period then hitting two unanswered goals to build a lead that withstood a final flurry of action.
Today, though, SKA was in no mood to allow any repeat. The home team took control of the game in the first period and never relaxed its grip. Dominating possession from the start, SKA scored three unanswered goals in four minutes to leave Dinamo with a mountain to climb.
First came Vasily Glotov in the 13th minute, firing home from the left-hand circle right at the moment that a home power play was coming to its end. Next, SKA again scored just as a Minsk player was leaving the penalty box. This time Svyatoslav Grebenshchikov was the scorer, getting onto Nikita Kamalov’s pass along the goal line to make it 2-0 just as Nick Merkley returned to the ice. And Dinamo continued to press the self-destruct button. Vladimir Alistrov, a two-goal hero in the opening game, dwelled on the puck for too long in his own zone and coughed up possession to Igor Ozhiganov. The SKA man needed no second invitation and fired in the third goal.
A difficult first period ended on a sour note for Dinamo. With 10 seconds left, Timofei Kovgorenya took a major penalty for boarding after the officials reviewed his challenge. In the aftermath, Merkley was ejected from the game after making an offensive gesture at the officials.
Impressively, Minsk killed that major penalty. And, although SKA again dominated possession in the middle frame, Dinamo limited the home team’s scoring chances and even managed to pull one back. Ryan Spooner struck in the 34th minute to make it 1-3 and offer at least a theoretical chance of saving the game in the third period.
Indeed, it wasn’t until the 56th minute that SKA added a fourth goal and put the game out of reach. Marat Khusnutdinov struck on the wraparound to ensure the teams would go to Belarus with the scores level in the series. However, as in Wednesday’s game, there was to be a fiery finish. Nikita Pyshkailo scored a second for Dinamo but almost immediately Cedric Paquette was ejected from the game after he jammed his stick into Alexander Nikishin’s sensitive parts for no apparent reason as the players stood in front of the SKA net. The power play brought a further goal, this time from Stepan Falkovsky against his former club, as the home team secured a convincing win.
Railwaymen find their scoring form
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 6 Vityaz Moscow Region 2 (2-1, 2-0, 2-1)
(Series tied at 1-1)
Lokomotiv hit back to tie its series against Vityaz in a game that was very different from Wednesday’s opener. In game one, neither team could score inside 60 minutes and it fell to Vladimir Galuzin to give Vityaz the verdict in overtime. Today, though, Loko’s offense improved, scoring four times on Maxim Dorozhko to chase the shut-out star of midweek from the game after little more than half an hour.
The Railwaymen needed less than 10 minutes to solve the goalie this time. Alexander Polunin intercepted a pass on the Vityaz blue line, advanced and picked his spot on the top shelf to give Loko the lead. Shortly after, the penalty of the night went to visiting defenseman Vladislav Valentsov and the subsequent power play saw Lokomotiv double its advantage on a Georgy Ivanov tally.
Vityaz managed a response in the first period when Vladislav Kara fired in a wrist shot from the blue line. There was a delay for the video official to review the play, but the check confirmed that Stepan Starkov’s stick was below the crossbar when he redirected the puck beyond Daniil Isayev and the goal stood.
However, Starkov’s tally was one of few bright spots in a tough first period for Vityaz and Lokomotiv’s control continued in the middle frame. A well-worked combination inside the Vityaz zone at the start of the second period saw Daniil Tesanov restore that two-goal advantage. For Tesanov, 20, that was a first KHL playoff goal in his first post season action of the year. Then, on 32:25, Dorozhko left the game after he was beaten for a fourth time. Maxim Shalunov was the scorer, firing in a terrific wrist shot from the left-hand dot.
It was a long way back for Vityaz, but the visitor was prepared to give it a try. Scott Wilson pulled a goal back on the power play when he steered a Galuzin feed into the net, but just seven seconds later Polunin got his second of the game, converting a misplaced clearance from the Vityaz defense. A further minute passed and Artur Kayumov added a sixth to put the result beyond any doubt.
